In the last year of the Bush administration, anti-wolf interests won an amendment to Endangered Species Act regulations that allows Idaho and Montana to kill protected wolves if they contribute to local declines or behavioral changes in elk or deer populations "even while elk and deer populations in those states are booming.

Now, that rule is being manipulated to allow Idaho and Montana to indiscriminately kill a protected species whose very survival is in question. Idaho officials are vowing to kill up to 65 percent of the wolves in certain parts of the state. And Montana is exploring its options to begin aerial gunning.

The Earthjustice legal team that I lead in Bozeman, Montana has swung into action to defend the wolves. But we need your support to see this fight through.

fight to overturn parts of the Bush-era regulation "known as the 10(j) rule "that allow states to unjustifiably kill protected wolves

urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to update its paltry 300-animal wolf recovery goal to a figure closer to the 2,000 to 5,000 wolves recommended by independent scientists

press for the establishment of state laws governing wolf management that will prevent the population from being reduced to an unsustainable level

My team in Montana scuttled this fall`s public wolf hunts when we won federal protections for the wolves last month. But if Idaho and Montana`s backdoor efforts go unchecked, the results could be disastrous.

Ultimately, we would all like to see the wolves come off the Endangered Species List "but only after they have fully recovered and there are laws in place to ensure their survival. Until that time, our team will fight on.

Thanks for all that you do to support our efforts on behalf of the wolves and other threatened wildlife and wild places.

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